An Iraqi official says displaced families are returning to the western city of Ramadi three months after Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes drove out the Islamic State group.

The city's mayor, Ibrahim al-Osaj, said Sunday that local authorities are only allowing families to return to areas that have been cleared of mines and other booby traps planted by IS. He says "thousands'' have returned, without providing a specific figure.

Iraqi state TV aired a video showing the Head of Sunni Religious Endowments, Sheik Abdul-Latif al-Himaim, leading a convoy of dozens of cars into the city.

Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar province, fell to IS last May. The extremists were driven out in December.